A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the EchoStar-105/SES-11 commercial communications satellite into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit on 11 October 2017 at 6:53 p.m. from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. This is the second flight for this Falcon 9's first stage, which first flew on SpaceX's tenth resupply mission to the International Space Station in February 2017. The first stage booster landed successfully on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship stationed out in the Atlantic Ocean after launching the EchoStar-105/SES-11 satellite making its second successful launch and landing.

EchoStar-105/SES-11 is a dual-mission satellite for United States-based operator EchoStar and Luxembourg-based operator SES. Excerpts from the SpaceX press release for the mission explain the dual use of the satellite:

EchoStar 105 was tailored to meet the Ku-band capacity needs of EchoStar’s enterprise, media and broadcast, and U.S. government service provider customers, offering coverage of the 50 U.S. States and expanded reach to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

SES-11, designed to accelerate the development of SES’s U.S. prime video neighborhood and the delivery of High definition (HD) and ultra-high definition (UHD) channels, joins SES-1 and SES-3 at the center of SES's robust North American orbital arc, which reaches more than a hundred million TV homes. It also replaces C-band capacity for AMC-18, which SES offers over North America, including Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean, empowering businesses and governments to capture new opportunities and expand their reach.

ABOVE: A time exposure of the launch as seen from Blockhouse beach at Patrick Air Force Base.
BELOW: Distant views of the launch as seen from the same spot.